Car-doob lock



W. McMINNlS.

CAR DOOR LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4. 1915.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. McMINNlS.

CAR DOOR LOCK.

APEUCATION FILED lAN.4,1915.

1 ,1 96,007. Patented Aug. 29, 1916. J 5 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lmmwm W 41/1 FIQEQ WILLIAM MOMINNIS, OF ELKI-IART, INDIANA.

CAR-DOOR LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

Application filed January 4, 1915. Serial No. 466.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MCMINNIS, citizen of the United States, residing at Elkh art, in the county of Elkhart and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Locks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is designed as an improved door lock, and relates specifically to a pneumatic lock particularly adapted for use in connection with doors of railway rolling stock.

The object of the invention is to provide a look so constructed and so situated with respect to the ordinary sliding door of a railway freight car as to serve as an abutment therefor, the abutment being disposed to project outwardly from the side of the car and, by reason of its location, prevent opening movement of the door.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a lock structure whereby air under pressure (a part of the ordinary air brake system) may be utilized as a means for moving the tumbler or looking member out of locking relation with the abutment or block.

As a further object of the invention, I contemplate the use of a sliding wedge, which, as shown, is mounted on the door in such proximity to the abutment, when extended, as to act automatically in the capacity of a take-up device.

The above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in their preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification and then more particularly pointed out in the claims which are appended hereto and form a part of this application.

In describing my invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railway freight car, partly broken away, illustrating the application of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of my improved lock, the lock block or abutment being shown extended; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2; and Fig. l is a section of the lock taken transversely of that shown in Fig. 3.

Before proceeding with the description of the drawings, I desire to call particular attention to the fact that while I have evolved my invention with reference to its use only in connection with railway car doors, the same may be readily utilized, and in a like capacity, in connection with any and all sliding doors, irrespective of their particular use.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals, l designates as an entirety an ordinary railway freight car, 2 an ordinary sliding door, and 3 the guide rails or runners therefor.

The door lock, designated as an entirety by the numeral 4 is so situated with respect to the car door 2 as to serve as an abutment therefor when extended or projected in a manner to be hereinafter fully described. In its preferred embodiment, the lock mechanism 4 consists of a lock case 5, a block or abutment member 6 and a tumbler or locking member 7 the latter being movable in a vertical plane and the former (the abutment) being movable from a position entirely within the case to a position partly without or as shown to advantage in Figs. 2 and a. An opening 8 is formed in the outside face of the casing 5, while the rear or inside face of the casing is entirely open, although a vertical slide member 9 operating in groove 10 therefor may be utilized as a closure means. Block or abutment member 6 is of a size to snugly fit and operate within the opening 8, the said member, when within the case, to be directly engageable with the slide 9, said slide acting as a stop means to limit inward movement of the abutment and maintain the said abutment in a position to be readily extendedor projected if desired. To facilitate movement of the abutment 6, I provide a suitable pivoted handle 10 which, when not in use, is adapted to depend within and fit a recess therefor in the forward face of the block.

The inner end of the abutment 6 is somewhat enlarged or is flanged as indicated at 11, the flange or enlargement being engageable with the interior wall of the case and, in the extended position of the block, being adapted for engagement with the forward face of the case to limit outward movement of the block. As shown, the forward face of the lock case 5 is upon the same vertical plane as the side of the car within which the device is arranged, thereby presenting, when the abutment is moved into a non-locking position, a smooth and unbroken surface over which the car door 2 may be slid.

Passing on to the description of the means utilized to automatically lock the abutment 6 in extended position when drawn outwardly from its case, 7 as before noted, designates the tumbler or looking member which, in the arrangement here shown, consists of a longitudinally disposed bar 12, the respective terminals of which are fastened as at 18 to members let which I shall here inafter refer to or designate pistons. The lock case 5 is so constructed as to form guide ways 15, one for each piston, the guide ways being hereinafter designated cylinders. The inside wall of each cylinder 15 is provided with a vertical slot 16 within which the respective terminals of the bar 12 work. From the arrangement described, it is evident that the pistons 14 will move in unison. Lugs 17 depend from the bar 12 into the case 5, the lugs acting as reinforcing element for the bar, and, upon movement of the abutment 6, operating within recesses 18 formed therefor in the enlargement 11 before mentioned.

An air passage way 19 is formed in the lock case the said passage way opening at one end to the cylinder 15 at one side of the case and at its opposite end to the cylinder 15 at the opposite side of the case whereby to admit air to each cylinder when it is desired that the pistons 14-, and the locking member 7 carried thereby, be elevated. Air

is admitted to the passage way 19 through an air induction pipe 20 adapted to form a part of the ordinary air brake system now in use. Any suitable control means may be utilized to control the air pressure necessary to proper operation of my improved device.

As a take-up device, and as a means to prevent rattling of the car door after con tinued use, I provide a vertical sliding wedge block 21 having a dove-tailed projection 22 integral therewith, the said projection operating in a complementary groove 23 formed in the door 2 at one end thereof. It will be noted that the wedge block 21, by gravity, will take up all. space intermediate the abutment (when extended) and the adjacent edge of the car door.

In operation, and assuming that the door be locked by the disposition of the abutment 6 in the path of movement thereof, it is but necessary to elevate the pistons 14 until the bar 12 engages the top of the lock case in order that the said abutment be permitted to move inwardly and out of a locking position. Upon the admission of air under pressure to the passage way 19 it is evident that such pressure when exerted on the pistons 1%, will move the said pistons upwardly, the bar 12 moving therewith, such movement aljning the lugs or projections 17 with the recesses 18 formed in the enlargement 11. The locking member 7 having thus been elevated, and being maintained in such ele vated position by the continued air pressure exerted thereon, it is evident that the block or abutment member 6 may be moved from a position without to a position within the lock case thus permitting unobstructed sliding movement of the car door 2.

To look the door, it is but necessary to grasp the handle 10, exert an outward pull on the block or abutment member 6, relieve the air pressure in passage way 19 to in this manner permit locking member 7 to fall by gravity from its elevated position to the position shown in Fig. 2, in which event the said member, by reason of its engagement with the enlargement 11 and with the case 5, will prevent inward or forced movement of the block member relatively to the case.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it is evident that the slots 16 not only act as a guide for the member 7 when vertically moved, but also, by the extension of the bar 12 therethrough, as a means preventing lateral movement of the locking element; that no key or other tangible element is employed to lock and unlock the device; and that, from the exterior of the car, movement of abutment 6 can in no way be effected other than through the agency of air pressure, yet, should it be desired that the door be an locked, such unlocking mi ht easily be effected from the interior of the car by simply elevating the closure or slide 9 and moving the member 6 until out of locking relation with the abutment or block.

In reduction to practice, I have found that the form of my invention, illustrated in the drawingsand referred to in the ab ve description, as the preferred embodiment, is the most efficient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1- A 1. In combination with a sliding door having a grooved rear edge, of a lock means therefor comprising an abutment member movable into proximity to said rear edge of the door when closed, and a movable means fitting the groove aforesaid and engaging said abutment, substantially as described.

2. In a sliding door look, a lock case, an abutment member movable from a position within to a position without said case, means moving automatically into locking relation with said abutment member when without said case, pneumatic means to move said locking member out of locking relation with said abutment member to provide for movement of said abutment member to a position within said case, said abutment member acting as a means whereby said locking member is held in a non-locking position, substantially as described.

3. In a sliding door look, a lock case, an abutment member movable from a position within to a position without said case, means engaging said abutment member and said door to act as a lock for the latter, an enlargement formed on the abutment member to limit its movement, said enlargement having recesses formed therein, a locking member within said case, projections formed on said locking member adapted for fitting engagement with the recesses aforesaid to provide for movement of said abutment memher when said projections and said recesses shall have been alined, and means to aline said projections and said recesses for the purpose stated.

I. In combination with a sliding door, a lock therefor comprising a lock case, an abutment member movable from a position within to a position without said case, means to limit movement of said abutment member, means operating automatically to lock the said member in looking relation with the door, and pneumatic means to actuate said locking member and to provide for movement of said abutment member out of looking relation with the door.

5. In a door look, a lock case, a member movable from a position within to a position without said lock case, said member when without said case being adapted for locking engagement with the door, a cylinder formed within the lock case, a piston operat ing within the cylinder, a locking member movable with the piston to lock and unlock said abutment member, and pneumatic means to actuate the piston.

6. In a sliding door lock, a lock case, an abutment member movable from a position within to a position without the case, said member when without the case being disposed in the path of movement of said door to preclude movement thereof, means to limit movement of said member, a tumbler in the form of a vertically movable horizontal bar movable by gravity in a locking position to prevent unlocking movement of the member and a pneumatic means at each end of the bar, to actuate the tumbler and thereby permit unlocking movement of the member.

7. In a sliding door look, a lock casing provided with cylindrical bores, and a fluid conduit common to both bores, an abutment member movable within the casing, a tumbler movable by gravity to preclude movement of the abutment member when the same is in locked position, and pistons pivoted to opposite ends of the abutment member and movable in the bores to raise the tumbler and thereby permit movement of the abutment member to unlocking position.

8. In a sliding door look, a lock case, an abutment member movable from a position within to a position without the case, said member when without the case being disposed in the path of movement of said door to preclude movement thereof, means to limit movement of the said member, a cylinder formed in the lock case, a piston operat ing within the cylinder, and a tumbler movable by gravity into a locking position, and pneumatic means for operating the piston to move the said tumbler out of a locking position, as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In combination, a sliding door, an abutment lock therefor movable into and out of a locking position, and a wedge block adapted to be interposed between the said member and the said door.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM MoMINNIS.

l/Vitnesses:

AMAsA H. STEVENSON, C. A. ANDERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

